James Harden has been a huge disappointment for the Houston Rockets in their first two Western Conference playoff games, both of which they lost at home to the Portland Trail Blazers.
Harden has gone 14-of-47 (29.7 percent) in the first two games including a 3-for-14 performance from 3-point range in Game 1.
Even though Houston is down 0-2, it’s not time to write off the Rockets yet. They’re dangerous and could very easily win two in Portland, especially if you figure that LaMarcus Aldridge will cool off and Harden might heat up. But is there a reason why Harden hasn’t been at his best the past two games?
Nate Fitch, best known as Johnny Manziel’s close friend and business manager, is well connected and tweeted this after Game 2:
Someone at the game tonight with a lot of credibility told me Hardin was partying hard all weekend. Selfish.
— Nate Fitch (@UNCLENATEFITCH) April 24, 2014
We consider Fitch to be a reliable source otherwise we wouldn’t have felt comfortable posting this.
This isn’t the first time a player struggling in the playoffs was ascribed to their partying. Rihanna said last year that JR Smith was slumping for the Knicks in the postseason because he was hungover from partying at clubs all night. Smith of course denied the charge, but few people believed him.
Let’s just hope this isn’t the case for the Rockets’ sake. And let’s hope that Houston maintains good focus on the road where it’s even more tempting to go out and party, otherwise this could turn into a sweep.
